Let’s put some numbers on things. First off, the UK national debt is approximately £2,427 billion. We have a population of c67 million. That’s each an average debt of £36,200 per person in the country. Let’s take Pakistan, it’s national debt is $248 billion, with a population of 225 million, an average debt of $1,102 per person in the country. Now the average gross income in the UK is £38K (ONS 2021) so, roughly one years salary is owed in debt by everyone in the country. The average annual income in Pakistan is $7,330, which is that each person owes around 2 months salary to clear the national debt. However, the UK provided Pakistan with £14.5 billion in Official Development Aid. The UK is increasing the burden on its population at a higher rate than one of the principle country’s it provides aid to.
The indebtedness of every person in the Uk is nearly 6 times higher than a country we are providing aid to. If you were looking at to whom you would lend money to, you would say that the UK is bankrupt, and Pakistan is in a good position to raise more debt if required to sort out its problems. Let’s not forget it’s also a nuclear country.
The UK provides aid to India, China and a number of other countries, where similar calculations can be done. The reason I’m highlighting nuclear countries with space programs is because it’s a huge expense to have these.
These types of numbers and comparison are never considered when the whole issue of aid to other countries is debated.
